Habakkuk 2:5

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: YEA ALSO, BECAUSE HE TRANSGRESSETH BY WINE - additional reason why the Jews may look for God punishing their Chaldean foe-namely, "because he transgresseth by wine." HE IS A PROUD MAN - rather, this clause continues the reason for the Jews expecting the punishment of the Chaldeans, "because he transgresseth by wine (a besetting sin of Babylon, cf. Daniel 5:1, and Curtius 5: 1), being a proud man." Love of wine often begets a proud contempt of divine things, as in Belshazzar's case, which was the immediate cause of the fall of Babylon ...

The Prophet has taught us that a tranquil state of mind cannot be otherwise had than by recumbing on the grace of God alone; and that they who elate themselves, and fly in the air, and feed on the wind, procure for themselves many sorrows and inquietudes. But he now comes to the king of Babylon, and also to his kingdom; for in my judgement he speaks not only of the king, but includes also that tyrannical empire with its people, and represents them as a great company of robbers. He then says in short, that though the Babylonians, like drunken men, hurried here and there without any control, yet God’s vengeance, by which they were to be brought to nothing, was nigh at hand. What ever therefore the Prophet subjoins to the end of the chapter tends to confirm his doctrine, which we have already explained—that the just shall live by faith. We cannot indeed be fully convinced of this except we...

5-14 The prophet reads the doom of all proud and oppressive powers that bear hard upon God's people. The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men; and we find him that led Israel captive, himself led captive by each of these. No more of what we have is to be reckoned ours, than what we come honestly by. Riches are but clay, thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those who travel through thick clay, are hindered and dirtied in their journey; so are those who go through the world in the midst of abundance of wealth. And what fools are those that burden themselves with continual care about it; with a great deal of guilt in getting, saving, and spending it, and with a heavy account which they must give another day! They overload themselves with this thick clay, and so sink themselves down into destruction and...

Verse 5. _BECAUSE HE TRANSGRESSETH BY WINE_] From the present translation, it is not easy to see either reason or meaning in the first clause of this verse. _Newcome_ translates, "Moreover, as a mighty man transgresseth through wine, he is proud, and remaineth not at rest." _Houbigant_ thus: "For he, though he be a despiser, and powerful, and proud, yet shall he not have rest." Nebuchadnezzar is here represented in his usual character, _proud, haughty_, and _ambitious_; inebriated with his successes, and determined on more extensive conquests; and, like the _grave_, can never have enough: yet, after the subjugation of many peoples and nations, he shall be brought down, and become so despicable that he shall be a _proverb_ of _reproach_, and be taunted and scorned by all those whom he had before enslaved. _AND CANNOT BE SATISFIED_] When he has obtained all that is within his reach, he...

This general rule the prophet goes on to apply in words which belong in part to all oppressors and in the first instance to the Chaldaean, in part yet more fully to the end and to antichrist. “Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine” (or better, “Yea, how much more, since wine is a deceiver , as Solomon says, Proverbs 20:1, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever erreth thereby shall not be wise;” and Proverbs 23:32, “In the end it biteth like a serpent and pierceth like an adder;” and Hosea Hosea 4:11, “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.” As wine at first gladdens, then deprives of all reason, and lays a man open to any deceit, so also pride. And whereas all prid

EXPOSITION HABAKKUK 2:1 § 5. _The prophet, waiting for an answer to his expostulation, is bidden to write the oracle in plain characters, because its fulfilment is certain._ HABAKKUK 2:1 Habakkuk speaks with himself, and, mindful of his office, waits for the communication which he confidently ex-poets (Jeremiah 33:3). I WILL STAND UPON MY WATCH (Isaiah 21:6, Isaiah 21:8). As a watchman goes to a high place to see all around and discern what is coming, so the prophet pla

YEA ALSO, BECAUSE HE TRANSGRESSETH BY WINE,.... Or rather, "how much less" or "more o, wine dealing treacherously": or "a man of wine", as Aben Ezra supplies it; that is, a winebibber, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it: and the sense in connection with the preceding verse Habakkuk 2:4 is, if a Jew, elated with his works of righteousness, his soul is not right in him, "how much less" a drunken, treacherous, proud, and ambitious heathen? if the Scribes and Pharisees, who expected the coming of the Messiah, yet withdrew from him, and opposed themselves unto him when come, "how much more" will such persons set themselves against him and his interest, thus described? by whom are meant, not the Babylonian monarchs, Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and the Chaldeans, as usually interpreted, though there are many things in the account applicable to them; but this is breaking the thread of the p...

Habakkuk 2:1. _I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved._ «I shall look to God, and I shall also look to myself. There shall be an expectation as I gaze upward to my Lord, and there shall also be an examination as I look within at my empty, guilty, good-for-nothing self.» Habakkuk 2:2. _And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it._ The prophets were accustomed to write their messages upon wax tablets, and the Lord bade Habakkuk thus write what he had seen. God would have both his law and his gospel plainly revealed to men, so that they might know and understand his will. Paul wrote to the Corint

HELL Sheol is, in the Old Testament, the place to which the dead go. (1) Often, therefore, it is spoken of as the equivalent of the grave, merely, where all human activities cease; the terminus toward which all human life moves (for example (Genesis 42:38) grave (Job 14:13) grave (Psalms 88:3) grave (2) To the man "under the sun," the natural man, who of necessity judges from appearances, sheol seems no more than the grave -- the end and total cessation, not only of the activities of life, but of life itself. (Ecclesiastes 9:5); ...

CHAPTER 2 The Ungodliness of the Chaldeans and Their Destruction _ 1. The waiting prophet and the message he received (Habakkuk 2:1) _ 2. The five-fold woe upon the Chaldeans (Habakkuk 2:5) Habakkuk 2:1. It seems there was no immediate answer to the plea of the prophet. He then speaks to himself and expresses his attitude. “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and I will wait to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer as to my complaint.” He watches like a sentinel upon a watchtower for the answer the Lord will give him. It does not mean that the prophet actually ascended a tower, but he expresses his innermost attitude by the symbol of the watchman. He remained